In March 2025, 32 high school students from Brest will embark on a scientific and civic adventure with the creation of a Young Ocean Club – an initiative launched by the IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development) in partnership with Surfrider Foundation Europe. Guided by their teachers and an oceanography researcher from the institute, they will be introduced to scientific methods to explore the impact of marine waste and learn to take concrete actions to preserve the environment.
The Young Ocean Clubs initiative, started by the IRD, is part of the « 2025, Year of the Sea » program, in preparation for the United Nations Ocean Conference, scheduled to take place in Nice in June 2025. Seven clubs have been launched across mainland France, overseas territories, and Africa. The Brest-based club will receive scientific support from Christophe Maes, a researcher at LOPS (Laboratory of Physical and Spatial Oceanography). A specialist in the dispersion of plastics in the sea, Maes studies their movement on a global scale to better understand their impact and propose solutions.
Field Trips to Analyze Coastal Pollution
The Young Ocean Club program will be structured around eight sessions combining awareness, scientific training, and hands-on activities. After an introduction to ocean protection issues, the students will head to the coastline to collect and analyze marine debris. With support from the researcher, the students will gather data to investigate the origins of the waste, the behaviors causing it, and ways to effectively tackle this pollution.
Advocacy to Defend Their Ideas in Front of the Public
Beyond scientific observations, the students will be tasked with developing an advocacy plan to raise awareness among the public and decision-makers. This will be a collaborative effort with the supervising team to determine what awareness campaign they will implement, becoming true ambassadors for ocean conservation.
